Drying Clothes

BooJewels

I'm glad you mentioned extra spins @Raxiel - I'm a big fan of doing it, but every time I mention it someone tells me why I shouldn't.   My recent experiments show that a single extra spin takes between 13% and 24% (measured by weight) of the water in an item out at the end of the cycle (most were around 18%), after the additional spin.  The 13% was a pillowcase in a full load with other bedding, the 24% was a cotton and bamboo towel in a smaller load.

I often do 2 extra spins, but what might be better is taking half the load out and doing one extra spin each to the two halves.  I think density of the washing/how full the machine is - might be a factor - that's my next experiment. 

Alnat1

I might try the extra spin thing but I'm not giving up my heat pump TD. 

BooJewels

The thing is @Alnat1 - if you're taking something like 15-20% of the water out of items before you stick them in your TD then it's surely going to take less time to get to the same degree of dryness, therefore costing less.  It was in a thread about the cost of using a TD that I first mentioned it, thinking it would be an easy way to cut some of that cost. 

My energy monitor records that it uses around 23Wh average per extra spin, costing a smidge less than a penny.

Raxiel

BooJewels said:

I'm glad you mentioned extra spins @Raxiel - I'm a big fan of doing it, but every time I mention it someone tells me why I shouldn't.   My recent experiments show that a single extra spin takes between 13% and 24% (measured by weight) of the water in an item out at the end of the cycle (most were around 18%), after the additional spin.  The 13% was a pillowcase in a full load with other bedding, the 24% was a cotton and bamboo towel in a smaller load.

I often do 2 extra spins, but what might be better is taking half the load out and doing one extra spin each to the two halves.  I think density of the washing/how full the machine is - might be a factor - that's my next experiment. 

Yes, I think I saw that thread, which is what got me doing it.

The other advantage for me is, a spin cycle only draws a few hundred Watts, while the drier draws around a Kilowatt (if only briefly). That matters because we just got PV, and a lower wattage, (even if it were over a longer period) has a better chance of being covered by the solar output, even if it's overcast, rather than having to import.

Alnat1 said:

I might try the extra spin thing but I'm not giving up my heat pump TD. 

They go well together, because if its got a heat pump, its probably got a moisture sensor too? (on account of not being ancient) So drier clothes going in means an even shorter and cheaper drying cycle.

That said, the SWMBO won't allow Jeans or silk-screened t shirts to get tumbled so there's always something for the rack.

Rattusnorvegicus

I tried it, and monitored at the plug spent an extra 150 watts on an extra spin cycle, and saved 100 watts on the tumble dry.

Probably i think cos the heat pump takes a fairly set amount of time to get up to temperature, and a full drying cycle can be as low as 820 watts. So shortening the drying time by 10 minutes makes almost no difference (cos when its hot its hot, and recycling at 81% efficiency) to the cost at 4p saving.

I could watch 10 minutes less TV or use a thermos flask for coffee instead of a kettle and save more money.

Mind you i never load my washing machine over 50% so spinning is always very effective for me and i end up with about 55% moisture.Horses for courses i guess. You never know until you try something.

otb666

my Eco wash takes 2 hours but clothes come out dryish and i put clothes horse in kitchen takes about a day to dry always worked for me (30years) infact last time my washer dryer needed replacing i just bought WM-Also a good tip to check paving slabs in garden if dry put clothes out if wet dont.

busybee100

I've only done 2 loads in a heat pump dryer but both were just over 0.5kWh. 

This was an A++ dryer after a 1400 spin.

inkydolphin

Dry ours in the conservatory (posh or what!) with some windows open.

mmmmikey

Reading this thread has prompted me to order a replacement for my 17 year old Bosch condensor dryer which died in the spring. Time to move on, after a respectable period of mourning It varied depending on what I was drying but it typically used 2.5kWh (I mainly used it for towels and heavy clothes which take an age to dry inside). Be interesting to see how much a modern heat pump dryer uses - delivery on Friday. Normal routine is to set the washing machine to finish when the alarm clock goes off, then put the load in the dryer so it uses E7 overnight electricity for an hour for the bulk of it's load. Use the washing line when I'm confident of getting things fully dry fairly quickly - for example when we had the 40 degree heat in the summer

MovingForwards

Like others we do the washing, an extra spin, hang it on the clothes horse and tilt the window open, even in winter.